Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Eldorado Canyon Exploration

Sunday, I drove out to Eldorado to meet up with Bobbi Bensman who has recently taken a liking to Eldorado Canyon for bouldering. She was running late so I started heading up the Eldorado Canyon Trail to check out some of the boulders. I warmed up at the Pony Kegs which was fun and then headed up the trail after getting some beta from Bobbi and her crew. A fairly strenuous hike led to the East Egg where I did the Walrus, a classic V3 that felt much easier than the regular "V0" route on the Pinnacle Colada at Flag, a very comparable line. I continued up the hill to the Musical Boulders, checking out Midnight Frightening,an amazing problem, and continued on to the Eldorado Boulder and the Lost Boulder. I was hoping that Lost was relatively safe to work solo, but as with most of the boulders in Eldorado West, the sloping landing and rocks make it a risky proposition. Elegant Universe looks great but the last throw seems really far. While Lost and Elegant Universe are classics, it's a long way out there, even for the aerobically fit. If it was free to visit Eldo, I'd definitely be back. We'll see.